Oersted vs Garland (Live A Live vs Final Fantasy) VS Prediction Blog
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Oersted, the champion of Lucrece turned demonic lord of hatred
Garland, the knight of Cornelia that became a slave to the cycle of violence
The medieval knight is a heroic warrior that many look up to. But these two’s destinies were far from heroic. Initially being the most respected warriors of their kingdoms, the two would seemingly fall from grace, becoming powerful demonic threats which threatened all of space and time. Little did anyone know, however, their falls from grace were more from circumstances in which they were forced into their roles through events which broke their resolve, making them accept the monsters they felt they were destined to become. So, which of these fallen heroes will sink the other into their never ending darkness?
Before We Begin
For Oersted, this will be discussing the recent modern remake of his game along with some details from the original SNES title, which will be using a fan translation but it is fairly faithful to my knowledge. I’ll also include some details from his appearance in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, as that game does give him a bit of an alternate story. Though I will not include any scaling to crossovers that have no real story to discuss like Final Fantasy Dungeon II or Holy Dungeon.
As for Garland, this will mainly be sticking to him as he is within the context of the original Final Fantasy’s world. So anything from his original release, the various remakes and other adaptations, and some details from his alternate self in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This also will include stuff from the Dissidia series, as unlike someone like Cloud, Garland’s story within Dissidia is pretty tied to his original title’s story, meaning it wouldn’t be right to not include it. It also does help strengthen the thematic points of the match in my opinion. However, this won’t include details from versions of the character distinctly from other worlds entirely, such as in Final Fantasy IX or Mobius Final Fantasy, and there’s only stuff from within the Final Fantasy series itself, so there won’t be any scaling through Smash Brothers or Kingdom Hearts.
For both of them, they will be given their full possible arsenals, to be in line with Death Battle’s rules in regards to characters with heavy amounts of player choice. Finally, MAJOR SPOILER WARNING. This will be going over recent releases in full, openly discussing the entirety of their stories, so if you want to go into Live A Live or Stranger of Paradise blind, this is your warning to step out.
Background
Oersted
“Demon then! Renouncing former ties and titles! And in their place, I claim… The Lord of Dark. Odio!”
In the kingdom of Lucrece, there lived the heroic knight Oersted. He was beloved by the populace, and after winning a tournament in which he bested his rival, the mage Streibough, he was set to be wed to Princess Alethea, the daughter of the king of the realm. Unfortunately, on the night this took place, Alethea would end up captured by the Lord of the Dark. He was a demonic lord who had seemingly returned from death after being bested by the legendary hero Hasshe and his ally Uranus the mage many years earlier. With Streibough assisting him, Oersted would seek out Hasshe and Uranus, convincing them to help them defeat the dark lord once more. The 4 would climb the Archon’s Roost and would defeat the leader of the demons, only for Hasshe to realize that was merely a minion of the true dark lord. Before they could locate the true evil or the princess, however, Hasshe would end up succumbing to an illness he was trying to hide, killing him, and Streibough would seemingly perish in a sudden earthquake.
The two remaining heroes returned to Lucrece defeated. That night, Oersted would get a vision of the demon lord in his dreams, and he’d awaken to find him seemingly in the castle. Oersted would do battle, easily slaying what he thought was the beast, only for the illusion to fade, revealing he had actually slain the King of Lucrece. He was then discovered, looking as though he had deliberately struck down the king, which led to the guards of the castle branding him as the true lord of the Dark, before capturing him for his execution. Uranus would also be captured and tortured due to sticking up for Oersted, and as he spent the last of his energy to release Oersted from their captivity, he’d tell the young knight that as long as there was someone in the world that believed in him, he still had something to fight for. Believing the princess to be that someone, Oersted would fight his way out of the castle and back to the Archon’s Roost to rescue her.
Once there, however, he’d uncover a terrible plot. Streibough would reveal himself, having faked his death and tricked Oersted into regicide with illusions. He was secretly envious of the knight’s fame and success, and had also fallen in love with Princess Alethea, leading to him putting together this plot to forever sully Oersted’s good name. The two would do battle, with Oersted besting his rival once and for all, killing him. But at that moment, Princess Alethea would come out herself, revealing she had reciprocated Streibough’s feelings, and had possibly been manipulated into hating Oersted by believing he had neglected rescuing her. In her grief, she would take her own life, leaving Oersted alone on the mountaintop. Believing that there was truly no man alive who was willing to believe in him, he would give in to his anger and hatred, accepting his new role as the demonic monster his kingdom had labeled him as, hating mankind back in force. If they would not have their heroic knight Oersted for any longer, then they would all fear the Lord of the Dark, Odio.
Now, Odio was a being that had seemingly always been around, representing the pure hatred of humanity. He’d have various incarnations in other time periods, ranging from millions of years earlier in the times of the cavemen, to many years after him in the far future. These had all become feared figures within their times, being tied to some horrible event which could potentially shape their futures, but would all end up defeated by a hero who flew in the face of the hatred they represented. Oersted would take notice, and after massacring the kingdom that had turned their back on him, he would turn his hateful eyes upon the rest of time and space. He would pull 7 of these heroes out of their time to his own, with the intention of personally besting them, proving his views of humanity being naught but monsters correct in the process.
After journeying throughout the now destroyed kingdom of Lucrece, these heroes would confront him on the Archon’s Roost, and after a long fought battle, ultimately defeated him. Oersted would beg for death, but after this was refused, he would draw upon all the hatred from the world to manifest the true form of the Archon, Sin of Odio. The seven would attempt to defeat it in another long fought battle, only to fail to fully defeat this form and be rendered powerless. However, for just a moment, Oersted remembers the knight he once was, and would free himself from the curse of hatred to land the final blow upon Odio, slaying this beast of hatred. After this, Oersted would show great remorse over his actions, even more so once the leader of the heroes related their own experiences to his. Now fading away, he would use the last of his power to send away the seven back to their times and places, allowing them the happy ending that he was denied. However, before this he would give them one stark reminder. As long as hate exists, Odio will too, and if it's allowed to grow within a person's heart, the Lord of Dark will return, just as wicked as he was.
Though his story doesn’t end this way in all realities. In one, rather than bring the heroes to his time, he would remotely possess his other incarnations in their times, and with this boost of power they would best the heroes that they lost to, rewriting history so that hatred would triumph. However, despite initially relishing in this victory, he was ultimately left alone in his time, which led to him reflecting on his actions and regretting them. In another, on the fateful day of the tournament, he, Streibough, and Alethea would end up sucked out of their world and into the world of Octopath Traveler, in which the two would ultimately come to blows and duel each other when tapped into Odio’s power together. Oersted would ultimately be brought down from this thanks to Alethea, who he had thought died by Streibough’s hands. This would ultimately end with the three being brought back to their world, with Oersted now having knowledge of Streibough’s hidden resentment, though the crossover ended before we could see how this affected his story. Finally, in either a world where he triumphed over the heroes in his time or was backed into a corner when possessing his incarnation in another, he would unleash Armageddon, wiping out all of reality with his hatred.
At the end of the day, Oersted is a man who you could identify as many things, whether that be a heroic knight forced into darkness due to a betrayal, a vain charlatan who was simply responding to the world denying him what he sees as his just reward, or anything in between. But as the time moves on from the past and into the future, there’s no denying that his final words ring true. Hatred is a force that can grow and take control of even the best of us. No matter how small you may think it to be, it will always be waiting for the chance to blossom.
Garland
“I, Garland, will knock you all down!”
In the kingdom of Cornelia, none were more skilled than Garland, seen as the greatest knight of the land. That is, until his power corrupted him, and he kidnapped the kingdom’s Princess Sarah, demanding the throne of the kingdom in return for her safety. (He also might have fallen in love with her, but that’s inconsistent). In any case, Garland would soon find himself faced with the Warriors of Light, 4 legendary warriors blessed by crystals to save the world from darkness. They would battle and defeat the rogue knight, before going on a world wide adventure to save others from 4 Fiends that were terrorizing the land. After this, they’d learn the master of the Fiends had sent them from two thousand years in the past, where their true master laid.
As the Warriors went back to defeat the master, they’d find it was none other than Garland, who had been sent to the past after his defeat. While there, his hatred would corrupt the elements of the past into the 4 Fiends, who would revive him from the brink of death. He would then send them to the future, instructing them to send his past self back should he fall, thereby creating a time loop through which he was immortal, and in which he had managed to defeat the Warriors throughout many cycles. After he explained this to the Warriors, he would take in the fiend’s power to become Chaos, and would do battle with the Warriors once more. This time, the Warriors would manage to defeat him, ending the cycle and restoring the world to peace.
…at least, that’s how the story ended. As he was first sucked into the past, he would be the first to be sucked into an alternate world where many fighters of different worlds had gathered. Garland would end up in service to this world’s version of Chaos, who would do battle with another god named Cosmos with many warriors from many worlds. But he would also end up seeing his future destiny as Chaos in his world, which due to also being aware of how he was stuck in a cycle of violence between the gods of this new one, ended up giving him an unfortunate realization. Believing himself to be a prisoner of war destined to be stuck within cycles of violence no matter what, he’d grow to believe this quite literal cycle of violence was everything he and the other fighters were fated for. This led to an insatiable lust for battle, as well as him often pushing back on other fighter’s attempts to defy their fates and end the cycle.
While this happened, there was an artificial warrior that was created simply known as the Warrior of Light. Born without memory or will until it gained it in battle, Garland recognised them as one the fighters who would defeat Chaos in the future, and the two would become rivals, often fighting on opposite sides. That is until the thirteenth cycle, where this Warrior’s efforts would end up working into a position to end the cycle. The two would have a final confrontation in which Garland tried to convince the Warrior to give in to the cycle like he had, only to be rebuffed and defeated. He’d serve as the warrior’s final obstacle to stopping the cycle, but a part of him was curious as to what would happen if the cycle were to be broken. As he was defeated, he’d claim his soul would endure into other cycles, and after the cycle was broken, the Warrior of Light would be brought to Cornelia, ultimately becoming one of the warriors which would defeat Garland here. Or he was the only one, it’s pretty inconsistent.
Garland’s will was something that others' worlds would feel as well. After the gods of the old battle of conflict were reincarnated, they’d resummon many heroes once again, with Garland again seeking and seeding conflict within it. But there are still some hints that he secretly resents his status as a prisoner of fate, with his constant attempts to get others to accept the cycle being a mask hiding his hopelessness towards breaking it himself, and he occasionally lets a slip of his old self as the heroic knight out. Regardless of this, he’s still one of the most dangerous combatants of Chaos, so to any who dare challenge him, one would do well to not take him lightly, or else he will ensure their hopes of victory are naught but their final fantasies.
Intelligence & Skill
Oersted
Oersted was always a skilled knight. He won a tournament of the strongest fighters of the kingdom, and he was implied to have been somewhat of an up and coming hero within his kingdom, having amassed enough fame to be generally beloved by the populace, at least before his slip to the dark side. Even after this, he showed enough skill to defeat the entire fighting force of the Lucrece Castle, and later fought through all of the demonic minions within the Archon’s Peak, all on his own. He also was noted to have been taking after the legendary hero Hasshe, and given he’s able to utilize several of the hero’s techniques, he likely got some training from him on their journey to defeat the fake Lord of the Dark. He even shows enough willpower to ultimately break free of the hatred in the ultimate ending of his game.
As Odio, he gained a surprising amount of cunning. He was able to see into the pasts of the heroes he brought to his time, picking through them and even getting some of them to admit they were partially motivated by selfishness. He was also able to possess his previous incarnations and win in battles they would end up dying to, rewriting history. This shows him to be a more skilled fighter than all of them, which given they include master martial artists Odie O'Bright and Ou Di Wan Lee, the Japanese warlord Ode Iou, the feared gunslinger O. Dio, and a full on super computer in OD-10, that is nothing to scoff at.
Garland
Garland is a very skilled knight. He was able to best the entire might of the Cornelia, leaving them helpless until the Warriors of Light came. His pact with the Four Fiends also allowed him to become Chaos, which accumulated many years of experience from defeating the Warriors of Light in different time loops, mastering a wide variety of magic and powers in the process. Within Dissidia, he’s been shown to match the skill of many of Final Fantasy’s most skilled fighters, whether that be other skilled knights like Cecil and Kain, masters of multiple jobs like the Onion Knight and Bartz, the powerful magical esper Terra, super soldiers like Cloud and Sephiroth, and many others.
Equipment
Oersted
Brion
(note: this is referring to the sword he’s holding, not the man himself)
A legendary blade wielded by Hasshe when he defeated the Lord of Dark. Upon his death, Hasshe would entrust it to Oersted. The sword has a couple abilities on its own, as it is capable of breaking seals and dispelling a large amount of darkness.
Other Swords
Gnomic Sword - A plain but functional sword
Defender - A parrying blade suited to deflecting blows when wielded in the off hand
Axion Sword - A sword once wielded by a storied warrior
Armor
(note: some of these offer specific resistances to elements, which I will go over in the dedicated segment on resistances later)
Divine Armor - Armor bearing the blessing of an ancient deity
Flame Armor - Armor woven with enchantments rendering the wearer resistant to fire
Helm of Nightmares - Wearing this helm causes you to be haunted by nightmares so terrible you will never be able to sleep, along with resisting Spirit Elemental attacks
Earthen Fist - A gauntlet carved from rock which allows the weared to resist Earth Elemental attacks and shields from petrification
Ice Helm - A helmet that helps protect against Water Elemental attacks
Hero’s Shield - A shield carries by one of the heroes who faced and defeated the Lord of Dark long ago
Healing Items
Joshua Tree Seed - A tree seed which can be used to restore a small amount of HP and remove all detrimental status effects
Unicorn Horn - The horn of a mythical creature which can be used to restore a small amount of HP and remove all detrimental status effects
Balmgrass - A medicinal herb that can be used to restore a moderate amount of HP and enhance your physical attributes
Alice Biscuit - A tea biscuit that can restore a large amount of HP and remove all detrimental status effects
Holy Water - A miraculous liquid which can be used to restore a large amount of GP and remove all detrimental status effects
Other Equipment
Apple of Eden - A forbidden fruit which beguiles an enemy that it’s used on and renders them unable to act
Blood of Bael - The blood of an otherworldly archon which can transform the ground into a poisonous mine when spilt
Blood of Amon - The blood of an accursed demon that will transform the ground into a sea of flame when spilt
Solomon’s Thighbone - A relic which can summon the shade of an ancient made that commands the dead to torment an enemy
Shroud of Demons - A blasphemous relic capable of summoning demonic mists that weaken and confuse enemies
Eye of Argos - An eye of a giant whose gaze can turn enemies to stone
Trifle - Hinders an enemy’s agility and reduces their speed
Garland
Claymore
Garland’s main weapon in the PSP Dissidia games, this is a massive sword which can shift its form to create other weapons, including an axe, flail, lance, and dual blades.
Rebellion
A large decorated sword which is his main weapon within Dissidia NT.
Chaosbringer
A crude black volcanic iron blade with glowing magma running along its fissures.
Balmung
A holy knight sword which he originally used during his time as a knight of Cornelia.
Zanmato
A spiked blade which resembles a greatsword wielded by Spiritus.
These blades are all functionally the same by the way.
Armor
A set of pretty fancy dark armor. It looks cool and has a badass cape.
Other Equipment
Within Dissidia, Garland can equip Greatswords, Katanas, Spears, Axes, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, Heavy Armor, and Large Shields. A full list of the equipment is here, this will just stick to the strongest options for the sake of brevity.
Ragnarok - A greatsword with high damage that increases Physical Damage by 25%.
Piggy's Stick - A katana with high damage that can reduce BRV Recovery of foes by 80%
Gungnir - A spear which is usually used by the summon Odin, which increases Wall Rush BRV Damage by 50%.
Earthbreaker - A legendary axe with high damage that increases Wall Rush HP Damage by 30%.
Ensanguined Shield - A cursed shield which offers high defense at the cost of lowering your HP and Bravery at the start of a battle.
Borghertz's Hands - Gauntlets which increases his Magic Counter Strength by 50%.
Aegis Shield - A large shield which in Dissidia offers a 60% increase in Warp Defense, and in other games can protect from petrification and increase magical defense.
Grand Helm - A helm which boosts Bravery and increases Chase BRV Defense by 10%.
Brigandine - A set of light armor which boosts HP and gives a 50% boost to Wall Rush BRV Defense
Maximillian - A set of heavy armor which boosts HP and increases Physical Defense by 10%.
Bone Mail - A set of heavy armor which boosts HP and disables EX Core/Force Absorption
Gigant Axe - An axe exclusively equippable by Garland in Dissidia, this is his ultimate weapon. It is a high damage axe that gives a 30% boost to EX Force Absorption and has a Minor Anti-EX Effect on foes it strikes, though it does reduce his defense when equipped.
There’s also a bunch of armor sets which can give unique effects, but I am not listing all of that out, so go look at that if you are curious.
Abilities
Oersted
Sword Techniques
Bold Cut: Slashes at an enemy without fear or hesitation.
Valorous Slash: Focus and strike an enemy with a single powerful blow
Prismatic Whirl: Whirl in place and slash at surrounding enemies
Crushing Blow: Deliver a mighty overhead strike that disorients an enemy. Turns enemies around and can temporarily lower their defense.
Wave Slash: A circular slash that sends a wave of razor-sharp wind energy hurtling towards an enemy.
Thousand Cuts: Rains down a flurry of wind based energy attacks upon all enemies in range. Can temporarily disable foes' arm and leg techniques.
Moonrise: Bewilders enemies in an area and can put them to sleep for a time.
Mirrored Strike: A counter strike which sends out a flurry of wind based blows
Dragonsoul: Harnesses the fiery power of a dragon to unleash a jet of concentrated flame at an enemy.
Flourish: Unleashes a whirling wind strike on nearby enemies, knocking back and disorienting them. Can temporarily disable foes' arm techniques.
Shardfall: Calls down a flurry of blades to rend the flesh of enemies in an area.
Heavenly Strike: A leaping strike from high in the air in which he brings his sword down upon his enemy.
Windbite: Sends a flurry of flying blades towards enemies in an area. Can paralyze foes.
Archon's Mark: An extremely powerful demonic slash once used by Hasshe to defeat the Lord of the Dark. Comes at the cost of lowering his statistics after using it.
The Curse of Odio
(fanart credit to jun on Pixiv)
As you may guess from what his name translates into, Odio is powered by hatred. The various other incarnations of Odio seen throughout the game "faces" born of his hatred, being other incarnations sharing his hatred through which he will be reincarnated as long as mankind lives. Oersted himself seems to have become immortal by taking in this hatred, as he looks unaged despite the final chapter taking place “ages” after his annihilation of Lucrece. Odio is also able to seek out and corrupt beings to be under his power, which is a process that can take as short as mere moments, as Oersted wound up corrupted a few minutes after killing Streibough, who had taken on the power of him himself. As long as the idea of hatred exists within the hearts of man, anyone could become the next Odio. And as the Octopath Traveller crossover shows, he’s able to follow those he chooses as his incarnations into other worlds as well.
Time Manipulation
He is capable of pulling people from other time periods into his own, as well as sending them back. He initially summoned them into a rift beyond time, and can send them there at will if you attempt to flee the battle with him. He can travel back in time himself in order to possess his incarnations in these time periods, as well as force the party members to relive their battles with them, and he seems unaffected by changes in timeline he causes. Also he might have stopped time when he pulled them out of time, but that could just be cinematic timing.
Spatial Manipulation
In the final chapter, there are several dungeons known as trials that were not there during the events of his own chapter, with some outright replacing the previous layout of the kingdom, implying their creation was done by him.
Darkness Manipulation
Odio is able to manipulate darkness at will, mainly to cause his surroundings to get darker.
Soul Manipulation
After massacring the kingdom of Lucrece, Odio would end up sealing the souls of its inhabitants within the Trial of the Heart.
Flight
He’s able to fly. Pretty self explanatory.
Pocket Reality Creation
Odio ends up creating a pocket dimension for both of the final fights to take place in.
Armageddon
Odio’s ultimate attack. He will unleash it if he manages to defeat the entire party that engages in battle with him. If you choose to play as Oersted in the Final Chapter, the "Flee" command is replaced with "Armageddon" if your character's health is reduced to critical levels. Either way, this is an attack that causes Odio and every other incarnation of him to create a massive explosion that consumes everything in their era, completely ending existence at any and all possible points in time. The remake depicts it as a fiery blast, and even shows the earth being engulfed in flames. The original version is a bit more clear on the “destroying everything” part. That being said, when the attack wipes out literally everything, it’s pretty explicitly doing it to Odio himself as well, meaning it is essentially a suicide move.
Resistances/Weaknesses
List of the various in game elemental attack types and status effects
In base form:
Resists Demonic Attacks, which covers attacks that are demonic in nature, weaponize fear, or utilize darkness
Weak to Divine attacks, which includes attacks that are holy in nature, as well as attacks that weaponize sound
With Equippable Armor
Resists Sleep, Petrification (also includes other instant-kill attacks), Intoxication, Earth Attacks (also includes shockwaves), Water Attacks (also includes attacks using other forms of water like ice and mist), Fire Attacks (also includes attacks using other heat sources, like lasers), Spirit Attacks (which includes life absorption, mental attacks, and sensory attacks), and Projectile Attacks
Face of Odio
Resists Wind Attacks (Also includes farting attacks, electric attacks, and plasma attacks), Earth Attacks, Spirit Attacks, Petrification, Sleep, Paralysis, and Restraint
Weak to Slashing Attacks and Divine Attacks
Resists Water Attacks, Wind Attacks, Spirit Attacks, Divine Attacks, Demonic Attacks, Petrification, Paralysis, and Restraint
Weak to Thrusting Attacks, Fire Attacks, and Earth Attacks
Brow/Purity of Odio
Absorbs and heals from Water, Poison, Fire and Electric tiles, and resists all status effects
Resists Demonic Attacks
Weak to Divine Attacks
Resists Martial Attacks & Demonic Attacks
Weak to Grappling Attacks
Resists Martial Attacks & Demonic Attacks
Weak to Spirit Attacks
Garland
Notable Sword Techniques
Round Edge: Garland spins forward in a circle to hit the opponent twice, then brings his sword down. He can optionally either end it with a skyward knocking strike or a 4 hit combo.
Deathblow: Garland steps forward and swings his sword upwards, knocking opponents heavenward.
Lance Charge: Garland turns his sword into a spear and charges forward. If it hits, Garland will jump up and slam the opponent down
Highbringer: Garland dashes forward and swings his sword up. He can then either shoot his blade out on a chain, knocking the opponent higher into the air, or jump into the air during the uppercut and follow it up with a three-hit combo
Twin Swords: Garland turns his sword into two and strikes the opponent multiple times while moving forward.
Chain Cast: Garland whips his sword out on a chain downwards and then back up to knock his opponent into the air.
Bardiche: Garland turns his sword into a deformed axe and swings it downward.
Twist Drill: Garland charges upwards on an angle, then shoots his blade out on a chain, knocking the opponent away
Reel: Shoots a chain forth from his sword that draws in his foes, and then sends them flying with a sword blow.
Deranged Soul: He’ll grab and restrain his opponent, doing continuous damage to them.
Magic
Garland in Dissidia also shows knowledge of several magical spells. Magic generally within the world of Final Fantasy is shown to be able to force your will on the world, and at its peaks it’s been shown to twist the natural order of things, though this is a bit vaguely defined. Some specific spells Garland has shown the ability to use include:
Thundaga - Sends out a blast of electrical magic. Similar electric spells have been stated to be able to directly target nerves
Earthquake - He causes the ground to erupt into stone spikes
Blaze - He can either launch this as a series of fireballs, or unleash as a whirlwind of flames
Tsunami - He throws his sword chain, which unleashes a bunch of water
Cyclone - He creates a twin set of wind cyclones
Immortality
Due to the time loop, within the original story he’s effectively immortal. Within Dissidia, it’s noted the warriors within it have no need to eat or sleep, and after Ardyn tampered with the crystal core of darkness, warriors are unable to permanently die no matter how physically injured they are.
Curse Manipulation
He and the fiends, which he draws power from at full strength, have been shown the ability to send out curses, which could turn a group of warriors into bats, send an elf prince into a deep sleep, and cause the earth itself to rot.
Time Manipulation
He has shown the ability to send himself and others forwards and backwards in time, along with being able to retain memories through resets in a time loop.
Pocket Reality Creation
Like any good JRPG boss, his final boss battle takes place within a pocket reality he created. He can also seemingly send his opponent into one during his EX Burst.
Will Power
Fighters within Dissidia have shown the ability to manipulate the world based on their wills, with those with higher wills having greater power. While Garland himself never demonstrated much of this, others have shown the ability to overwrite laws of the world, create entire areas from their pasts, seal off large areas and people, and open Torisions, which are essentially rifts in space and time.
Resistances
List of the various status effects and elemental affinities of the game series are here.
Holy Manipulation (Can resist Holy spells)
Empathic and Madness Manipulation, Gravity Manipulation, Extreme Cold and Cosmic Radiations (Can fight on the True Moon, which affects the hearts and minds of all living beings on the planet, and has a gravitational field strong enough that even the Lunar Whale couldn't escape from)
Spatial Manipulation and Deconstruction (Can withstand the attacks of Atomos, who manipulates space and crushes enemies down to a molecular level)
Absolute Zero (Can survive Shiva's ice attacks, including Diamond Dust)
Earth Manipulation (Unaffected by the Quake spell)
Electricity and Pain Manipulation (Is able to resist the Lightning spells, which are capable of directly attacking nerves)
Fire, Ice, and Matter Manipulation (Is capable of resisting these elements, and certain spells are noted as being capable of affecting the target's electrons),
Poison Manipulation and Corrosion Inducement (Can resist the Poison status effect, which is also stated to corrode the target)
Darkness and Perception Manipulation (Can resist the darkness status ailment, which can render the target blind)
Power Nullification (Can resist the Silence status, which renders the target's ability to use magic null)
Petrification (Can resist the petrification status effect)
Death & Blood Manipulation (Can resist the Death spell, which is stated to solidify the victim's blood)
Paralysis Inducement (Can resist the Paralysis status effect)
Time Manipulation (Unaffected by spells such as slow and stop)
Paralysis Inducement (Unaffected by the Hold spell)
Sleep Manipulation (Unaffected by Sleep)
Madness/Morality Manipulation (Unaffected by Confuse, which turns one over to the enemy's team)
Death & Soul Manipulation, BFR (Unaffected by Instant Death spells, including Kill, which steals one's soul, and Warp, which banishes a foe to the void)
Forms
Oersted
Odio-O
Exclusive to the Octopath Traveler crossover, this form emerged from when, after Oersted and Alethea have done everything they could to save Streibough from himself, and after Oersted had plenty of time to form a genuine love for Alethea, a Streibough that had been corrupted by the power of Odio seemingly kills her and the knight finally snaps, entering this form. Its full capabilities are hard for me to list, given I do not speak Japanese.
Face of Odio
His initial boss form consists of 4 parts, that being the brow, two eyes, and the mouth. The brow will stay immobile until the other parts end up killed. Techniques this form utilizes include:
Brow of Odio
Righteous Fervor: If it is attacked, the Brow of Odio will heal itself and the other body parts and increases their statistics
Eyes of Odio
Beguiling Gaze: A counter to other attacks. Can lower foes' stats or temporarily put them to Sleep.
Expunge: An Eye of Odio steals some of the target's vitality.
Expulsion: An Eye of Odio squirts some substance against the foe.
Stare Daggers: An Eye of Odio blasts a foe with water blades
Maw of Odio
Molten Breath: Odio blasts foes with flames that can poison them.
Shadow of Despair: Odio creates a cube of darkness around the opponent and crushes them within it. Places a damaging electric tile under the foe and can lower their defense.
After defeating the eyes and maw, the brow will come to the center to absorb power from the central well of darkness, transforming into…
Purity of Odio
Odio’s initial final form, which resembles a fallen angel and represents his intent to judge the world for humanity’s sins. Techniques this form utilizes include:
Saint Alethea: Odio's strongest move, in which he summons an illusion of Princess Alethea that corrupts itself into a horrifying ghoul, blasting nearby foes. Has a chance of lowering enemy stats or rendering them Petrified, Intoxicated or Asleep.
Denial: Odio blasts out an omnidirectional surge of energy that can interrupt attacks that are in the midst of being charged and pushes enemies away.
Expunge: See above
Shadow of Despair: See above
Sin of Odio
Odio’s true final form, which he took after taking in all of the world’s collective hatred. This is a gigantic armor of energy, which can attack alongside its arms, and is not deterred by them being destroyed. Techniques this form utilizes include:
Sin of Odio
Lament of the Damned: Odio shouts, sending out an omnidirectional wave of energy that can afflict foes with various statuses including Paralysis, Sleep or Poison.
Torment's Draught: Odio vomits a wave of red energy onto foes below him.
Roiling Disdain: Odio gathers power and fires a huge beam from its chest.
Absolute Condemnation: Utilized only when Odio is on the backfoot, an unavoidable attack that binds all enemies in a goop that immobilizes them completely.
Arms of Odio
Arm of the Vortex: Odio gathers energy in his claws and swipes away at his foes.
Thunderous Despair: Odio gathers together a large ball of electricity and uses it to cast lightning down on his foes, leaving a set of electrified, damaging tiles where the lightning struck.
Contemptuous Claw: Odio picks up a foe and blasts them with energy between his claws.
Glimpse of Madness: Odio gathers power in his palm and shoots an explosive blast of energy.
Garland
EX Mode
Seen in the PSP Dissidia games, this is a limit break form which can greatly enhance his abilities. Garland's EX Mode is Class Change, where his cape turns white and gains runic patterns along the edges. While in this form, he gains access to the “Indomitable Resolve” ability, which prevents him from flinching or being pushed back if an enemy attacks him while he is attacking, enabling him to become far more aggressive in his attacks. It also enables him to unleash his EX Burst, Soul of Chaos, which is a devastating series of attacks with all of his weapon’s forms.
Chaos
Garland’s ultimate form, which he takes after revealing his status as the game’s main villain. Notable techniques this form has includes:
Blizzara: Starts a blizzard to damage and freeze foes with biting winds and jagged hail.
Curaja: Closes his wounds with healing light and restores his stamina.
Firaga: Conjures an enormous fireball that turns itself into a rain of flaming projectiles to scorch his foes.
Flare: Causes a spontaneous fusion reaction to obliterate foes with the light and heat released by it, dealing non-elemental magic damage.
Haste: Speeds up time around himself, increasing his speed.
Slowra: Slows down time around one target, reducing their speed.
Feats
Oersted
Overall
Was a well respected knight of Lucrece
Bested Streibough despite him being empowered by Odio
Killed everyone in the kingdom of Lucrece
Required the strength of 7 heroes from other times to defeat
In another timeline, defeated these heroes in their own time in battles they originally won
His game inspired many elements of Undertale, including the name of Megalovania and the pacifist/genocide route concept, as well as influencing many other famous JRPGs
Power
Fought and defeated Streibough twice, who can cause an earthquake that shook a whole mountain (476.87 tons - 1.66 gigatons)
Caused a similar earthquake when powering up into Sin of Odio
Superior to the party members and his lower incarnations at full power
Masaru can use Worldbreaker’s Wrath to melt the ground under him and send chunks of earth flying (16.4 tons of TNT)
Lei can use Sacred Dragon's Temper to unleash a fiery dragon out of the ground (26.16 tons of TNT)
Comparable to the Octopath Traveler cast who defeated Galdera, a being that intended to destroy the world by creating a massive flood.
Sin of Odio drew power from all of his incarnations at once (At least 449.91 kilotons of TNT)
Armageddon is seemingly able to engulf the earth in flames, and wipe out all of reality across an entire timeline (Universal)
Speed
As seen above, can move fast enough to leave an afterimage trail
(note for the following: While the game describes attacks not hitting a character in gameplay as the attack missing, the chance of this happening is directly tied to the character’s evasion stat, indicating it is down to them actually dodging it)
Can fight foes capable of dodging Uranus’ Godly Voice (Mach 0.15)
Can dodge Streibough’s Amber Flurry, which summons cloud to ground lightning
Can dodge Cube’s Maser Cannon, which is a particle cannon (7.1129% c)
Superior to the party members and his incarnations at full power
Masaru can use Aloha Slap, which creates several afterimages (Mach 2.02)
Hong can use Pork's Second Cooking, which creates 4 afterimages (Mach 3.66)
Pogo can dodge King Mammoth's Mount Big Boom (Mach 13.46)
Odeo can dodge The Steel Titan’s Halogen Laser (0.39 c)
Durability
Superior to the party members and his lower incarnations at full power
Garland
Overall
Knocked down the entire army of Cornelia
Defeated the Warriors of Light across multiple timelines
Major player and arguably leader of the Warriors of Chaos
Contributed to the defeat of Shinryu
His game saved Square Enix as a company and started one of the most influential JRPG series out there
Power
Smashed apart several pillars with a swing of his sword flail
Should be comparable to the other fighters of Dissidia
Cloud scales to Bahamut Fury’s Exaflare blowing up a moon (31 yottatons)
Squall can utilize the power of Eden, who can create explosions that eclipse galaxies (8.13 - 136.7 ZettaFoe)
Emperor Mateus sustained the entire pocket dimension of Pandemonium, which contains a starry sky (Multi Solar System)
Ultimeca can enact Time Compression, which compresses all of space and time in a universe into herself (Universal)
Exdeath at full strength harnessed the power of the Void, which is a space connecting all universes, and intended to erase all of them from existence (Multiversal)
Chaos is likely comparable to his counterpart in Dissidia
Chaos was stated to be capable of destroying existence if left unchecked
Should be comparable in power to his reincarnation Spiritus, who could recreate World B and created the Land of Respite alongside Materia
Feral Chaos, an alternate universe form of him that succeeded in the various cycles, was able to outright kill all of the Warriors of Cosmos and Chaos, and was considered an equal to Shinryu, who required the combined might of all the warriors of Dissidia to defeat
Contributed to the defeat of Shinryu after eating the Crystal Core of Darkness, which was considered superior to the power of the Void by Exdeath and was going to be used to destroy the multiverse. (Multiversal+)
Speed
Clashed blades with incoming attacks from Noctis, Warrior of Light, and Lighting in quick succession
Clashed blades with Jack Garland, indicating they should also be comparable in speed
Intercepted and absorbed mist that was flying towards Ash, which was stated to be moving “quick as an arrow”
Blocked a missile fired by Gilgamesh, and dodged close ranged strikes from him
Should be comparable to the other fighters of Dissidia
Jecht was able to catch and throw an asteroid as Braska's Final Aeon (28.401 C)
Lightning can dodges lasers from Bhunivelze, which can near instantly vaporize far off planets (104.39 - 208.78 C)
The aforementioned Bahamut Fury flew between solar systems (17,828,728 C)
The aforementioned Eden fired a laser that reached another galaxy (78.9 billion C - 6.31 trillion C)
Durability
Was unable to be stopped by any of the efforts of Cornelia, potentially including Nitro Powder, which can destroy a significant amount of land (84.298 gigatons)
Blocked attacks from Warrior of Light, Cloud, Cecil, and Onion Knight
Should be comparable to the other fighters of Dissidia
Lightning can take hits from Orphan, whose power is responsible for holding Cocoon in the sky (106.823 exatons)
Cloud can survive Supernova (7.629 KiloFoe - 178 MegaFoe), which in Dissidia specifically is stated to completely destroy the dimension it’s in. (Universal)
Weaknesses
Oersted
Aside from the aforementioned elemental weaknesses, Odio is also incredibly hateful towards humanity, going to great lengths to try and prove his view of them all being evil correct, which has led him to allow beings that could stop him to live. Additionally, Oersted himself is still within Odio, and should he be properly inspired to, he will try to break free of the hatred of Odio himself.
Garland
One notable weakness of Garland is his overconfidence and arrogance, believing himself to be the strongest being out there. Aside from that, within Dissidia fighters have some of their moves limited by needing to build up Bravery Points, which they’ll deplete when using these moves. Finally, magic is typically limited by the use of a mana point, and cannot be used without them, though his status as a boss makes it a bit unclear if this applies to him.
Before the Verdict
Cosmology
Oersted
Odio’s ultimate attack, Armageddon, is pretty explicitly able to wipe out the entire cosmology seen in the game, so it’s important to try and break down how strong this is. Thankfully, he only has the implications of a single game to go over, so this will be relatively straightforward to break down, at least in comparison to other cosmology discussions.
We know the main universe events take place is likely the size of our own universe. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to space travel, during which it’s pretty explicitly established the earth is in an identical solar system. So I feel there’s no reason to question if the universe is different from our own. It’s also worth noting that there are several allusions implying the existence of an afterlife, which could suggest there to be another universe involved where the dead souls go, or even multiple due to the differing faiths used in these chapters. There’s also the rift between time which the final chapter starts your character in, along with several possible instances of pocket realities, though their size is hard to gauge.
Now, some have suggested that the various chapters of the game all take place in separate timelines, and therefore Oersted’s Armageddon is wiping out multiple timelines at once. However, I personally feel this is a bit of an unfounded assumption. Oersted’s dragging of them out of their own periods is only ever treated as a feat of time travel, and there’s not exactly any consistency issues them all being in the same timeline would bring up, as the events of the chapters are all located far apart from each other in both the geographical and temporal senses.
The remake actually aids in this interpretation, as in the Far Future chapter, you can find a toy of The Steel Titan from the Near Future chapter, suggesting the two to be connected. This likely isn’t a case of the Steel Titan being fictional in the world of the Far Future, as there’s a line from Doc Tobei in which he says he plans to merchandise the Titan. The toy in the spaceship was also something added in the remake, so I feel this is a good sign that the author's intent here is that this is all one timeline. Also there’s no reason to assume this is the exception here, because as mentioned, there’s no real contradiction brought up by the idea of them all being the same timeline.
So, overall, at his highest power, Odio is capable of wiping out the entire timeline of at least 1 main universe, at least one connected afterlife, some pocket realities within it, and maybe a space beyond time.
Garland
Final Fantasy’s cosmology, on the other hand, is a bit of a doozy. This won’t contain as many specific citations, but I’ll link to any relevant wiki pages and do my best to try and summarize their information, and you can double check for specific information if you want.
Within just the world of Cornelia, there was a single world by the name of World A, which held multiple time loops within it that Chaos had control over. The events of Dissidia take place in a near mirror image of the world known as World B. This realm was basically a battlefield between the forces of Chaos and Cosmos, and had several inner locations which resembled the locations of areas from the fighter’s worlds. However, the balance between the two powers needed to be maintained in order to keep the realm stable, and should the balance be shattered, this world will end up collapsing into the space between the dimensions.
Also worth noting is that the fighters in Dissidia are directly acknowledged as the same as them as characters within the mainline titles, meaning cross scaling their respective feats is fully reasonable.
After the events of the original Dissidia ended with the original two gods dead, the realm would manage to resist collapse for long enough that two new gods named Materia and Spiritus would end up in control of the realm, carrying on the original two’s wills. They’d recreate the world and summon various warriors to do battle in order to provide battle energy. There’d be a whole thing involving Shinryu trying to consume the world by sending it back into chaos, but that got stopped.
After this the warriors would be sent home, but projections based on their memories that are effectively the same as them would continue to do battle. The new deities would also create the World of Respite, which is a separate set of dimensions which was created to provide respite to their warriors after their bodies and spirits were worn out by the cycles of battle. Within it, there was a Crystal of Darkness which was able to change the world at will, which several evil guys would end up gaining control of over the course of the Opera Omnia mobile game. Eventually Shinryu would end up eating the crystal to become dangerous, but the warriors defeated him again, letting them go back to fighting each other or whatever.
Finally, there’s the other worlds to discuss. I’m not going to break down literally every single one of them, given there is a wide amount with differing rules that really aren’t that relevant here, but one important title to discuss is Final Fantasy V, which has the Void. This is an extradimensional space between dimensions which is said to connect to all universes in the Final Fantasy franchise. And yes it is pretty explicitly connecting all of them. Gilgamesh, originally from the world of V, ended up cast into the Void by his master Exdeath. This later allowed him to show up in many other worlds as a miniboss for other heroes to face, indicating it does connect all of them. There are several other spaces with a similar concept in other worlds with differing names that are implied to be the same as this. Most notably, however, there are several statements explicitly indicating the Final Fantasy multiverse is infinite in size. Indicating that when Exdeath took the power of the Void to erase all dimensions, it was a full infinite multiversal feat.
So yeah, fighters in Dissidia are able to keep up with and defeat beings that can threaten a universe to an entire infinite multiverse.
Verdict
Stats
In terms of pure statistics, I won’t beat around the bush with this, it is very stacked in Garland’s favor. To start off the discussion of power, in their base forms and just within the context of their own worlds, Oersted’s best feat would be scaling to Streibough’s earthquake, which was at least 476.87 Tons of TNT. That is certainly nothing to scoff at, but it pales in comparison to Garland being stronger than Nitro Powder, which clocked in at 84.298 Gigatons, meaning he is over 176 billion times stronger. Sure, the earthquake could have been more powerful than this, but given the quaking was restricted to just a mountain, assuming it’s of any significantly higher intensity is a bit unfounded. And even if we say Streibough’s strength was responsible for the full seismic energy for a quake instead of just sending waves, which for shaking a mountain would be about Magnitude 6.5 at the absolute highest, that would only top out at 1.66 gigatons, which is still about 50 times weaker than the Nitro Powder. That also quite literally blows most of the other feats in his game out the window, as the best otherwise would be the King Mammoth's Mount Big Boom, which only hits the kiloton range.
That being said, that’s not quite where the discussion ends. Armageddon is seen engulfing the entire world in flames, which is at least multi-continent level, and would be backed up by scaling to a similar feat in Octopath Traveler. However, even if I were to bump that up to planetary, Garland still surpasses it by scaling to the beings he fought within Dissidia. Most notably being Squall, who is capable of causing galaxy level destruction. And while Armageddon at full strength is capable of causing universal level destruction, Garland is comparable to beings like Exdeath, Sephiroth, Cloud of Darkness, and Ultimecia, all of whom are capable of matching and even surpassing universal destruction.
You could arguably get Armageddon beyond just universal by claiming it destroys multiple timelines or afterlifes, but even giving it the highest benefit of a doubt, the amount of universes it could destroy are ultimately finite. Meanwhile, the multiversal threats Garland compares to were threats to the entire Final Fantasy cosmology, which has multiple statements stating it contains an infinite amount of worlds. There is simply no reason to assume Odio can match that level of power even with the highest benefit of the doubt, as at no point is it ever said he was a threat on that large of a scale.
Also worth bringing up is that while Armageddon is certainly powerful, it explicitly is not a level of power that Odio himself survives, given he is also wiped out by this blast. In contrast, Garland was capable of taking hits from many of these beings, indicating it would be fully possible for him to survive this apocalyptic blast. And as the final nail in the coffin here, reminder that this is all stuff Garland should be comparable to just in base form. Chaos is a form far stronger than this, meaning that he’s capable of potentially surpassing this level of power. And even if you don’t want to include cross scaling to other titles, there’s still multiple Uni-Multi feats just within the context of Dissidia itself that he should also compare to. So, yeah, Garland’s raw power is something Oersted can’t quite compete with.
As for speed, I’ll be a bit more brief, but it is similarly pretty stacked against Oersted. The best feat he can scale to is Odeo potentially dodging Halogen Laser, which would come in at about 2/5ths the speed of light. However, the fighters of Dissidia have many displays surpassing the speed of light many times over. Even if I were to assume he could scale to the speed of the beam itself, Odio would still be hundreds to trillions of times slower than the top speeds hit by Dissidia’s fighters. He could potentially get faster depending on how you want to interpret Armageddon’s universal destruction, but it’s unclear if he would fully scale to this, and it’s not really defined enough to put any kind of solid numbers on it regardless.
So, yeah, no matter how you really try to slice it here, Garland takes the stat trinity by frankly ludicrous degrees.
Arsenal & Abilities
When it comes to the two’s respective arsenals, there’s a bit of back and forth. Garland has more equippable swords and armors to pull from, which could give him various statistical advantages. But Oersted is the one who has a weapon that actually has significant abilities in Brion. He also had a wider variety of healing options, some of which could also enhance his statistics, along having items that could cause specific effects when used.
When it comes to base abilities, both of them could counter plenty of each other's options. Both had many sword techniques and spells which covered a variety of elements. Both were immune to the many status effects they could unleash on each other, and which even included each other’s options for instant kills via petrification or similar methods. Both could send other people and themselves through time, meaning trying to strand each other temporally wouldn’t work. Both of them were able to remember changes in the timeline, they both could create pocket realties of unclear sizes which they held control over, and they both possessed spatial manipulation to change elements of their world.
Oersted does seem to hold greater versatility on paper, and he held several specific edges over Garland in terms of options they didn’t share. Brion allowed for the negation of sealing, which would counter Garland attempting to do so via his willpower. Flight would give him a solid mobility edge, and his darkness manipulation could allow for him to cloak his movements and make himself harder to track. And his soul manipulation could give him a way to finish Garland should he overpower his physical form.
Garland, however, also had his own edges. He could transmute Oersted into a bat, which is something Oersted didn’t have an explicit counter for, or he could overwrite the laws of the world to his will, something that is admittedly a bit vague. They both held elemental resistances, but Oersted was the only one of the two that had explicit elemental weaknesses within his forms. Some of these weaknesses Garland is fully capable of exploiting, as he possesses Earth and Fire attacks, along with holy weapons which could potentially hit Odio’s more consistent weakness to Divine attacks. And a few of these weaknesses are to basic slashing and thrusting attacks, which Garland was capable of exploiting with his blade. Garland also seemingly held the greater source of immortality, meaning he could keep up his stamina for a longer period of time.
Finally, in terms of forms, Oersted did have an edge in having more of them to utilize, but Chaos was ultimately a greater asset. It offered a wider spread of resistances to many of Oersted’s elemental attacks, while lacking the specific weaknesses many of Odio’s forms held. And it seemingly is something Garland has total control over, unlike Odio, whose ultimate form is that of pure rage and hatred which Oersted was capable of breaking out of.
Tertiary Factors
When it comes to experience, both are pretty similar within the context of their own worlds. Both were well respected knights that defeated an entire kingdom’s army on their own, and both created an elaborate scheme through space and time. That being said, thanks to Dissidia’s endless cycles of conflict, Garland held a sizable edge over Oersted in terms of combat experience, as his many battles against the heroes and villains of other worlds eclipsed any of Oersted’s potential experience in besting his own heroes.
Comparing their mentalities also creates a bit of a clear picture. Oersted’s fall into despair caused his hatred to overwhelm him, and while he did accomplish a lot, he wasn’t really pulling much in terms of complicated fighting. Garland’s fall from grace, on the other hand, enabled him to be far more ruthless and powerful in his fights. On the same topic, when comparing the two’s weaknesses, Oersted’s were a lot more debilitating to his chances than Garland’s. Aside from the aforementioned elemental weaknesses, the fact Oersted could potentially break out of Odio’s darkness mid fight means that in his ultimate form, Odio is constantly at risk of losing control of his host. And Garland certainly could give some words that would lead to Oersted snapping out of it, given how surprisingly philosophical he can get.
Meanwhile, Garland’s weaknesses were not something that would hurt him here. The fact he can run out of MP or Bravery is something that would only come into play after a while, but the statistical gap means it’s unlikely it would last that long. Aside from that, while he is certainly very arrogant, Oersted wouldn’t really have any methods to take advantage of this either. And in the unlikely situation where he were to be threatened, Garland would likely just respond by getting serious, which would avoid that weakness.
One last thing worth acknowledging here would be the idea of Odio being the abstract embodiment of hatred. Now, this is already a bit vaguely defined, but it could give the idea that it would be impossible to truly defeat him, as he will exist as long as there is hatred, and he can just be reborn in a later time. However, this can take a long time to happen, meaning it wouldn’t be a reliable way to revive him into continuing the fight. Additionally, characters in the Final Fantasy universe have shown themselves able to harm and defeat abstract beings. And we don’t even have to venture out of Garland’s world for this one, as the Warriors of Light are capable of defeating Chronodia, who is directly stated to be the embodiment of the flow of time itself. Finally, given his own ties to Chaos and his greater power, it would be unlikely for Garland himself to end up falling to Odio’s corruption either. So this factor ultimately would not be likely to edge him out a win.
Conclusion
Advantages:
Resists or counters several of Garland’s abilities
Greater overall versatility and arsenal in terms of healing and consumables
Has methods that could put Garland down if given the chance
Greater number of potential forms
His game is super underrated please go play it
Disadvantages:
Several abilities countered by Garland
Loses the stat trinity
Has elemental weaknesses that could be exploited
Less combat experience
Way less relevant
Advantages:
Resists or counters several of Oersted’s abilities
Takes the stat trinity
Greater combat experience
Greater survivability
Greater arsenal in terms of weapons and armors
Lacks elemental weaknesses
Chaos is ultimately a better form than any of Odio’s incarnations
Disadvantages:
Several abilities countered by Oersted
Soul Manipulation could put him down if given the chance
Ultimately, while Oersted was not one to be trifled with, Garland’s greater power and experience would ultimately be something he could not compete with in the long run. While hatred is a powerful force indeed, it ultimately could not triumph over something as overwhelmingly powerful as Chaos itself.
The winner is Garland.
Next Time
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